Weak sentiment in the shipping industry has opened up an opportunity to utilize their quality time judiciously to upgrade their skill sets as advanced courses are now available at 15-20% lower than their peak rates, said Capt. Nalin Pandey, founder Director and Chairman of Pentagon Maritime Training and Research Institute.Training costs in India has always been 35-40% lower than those prevailing in UK and 30% lower than that in Singapore and the trend continues to remain the same way, he stated.
The institute conducts various modular courses as per IMO guidelines for tanker and non-tanker type vessels, which are approved by Directorate General of Shipping. It has 30 different modules with a capacity to issue 3,000 certificates. “Despite rise in overheads, fresh students who are currently finding it difficult to remain gainfully employed are offered 40-60% discount to upgrade their skill sets,” he pointed out.
The Maritime Agenda 2020 states: “Recognising the need to impart structured training to all port personnel including officers, it is essential to re-train them towards multi-skilling. Every employee shall undergo different tiers of training program during his service.”
The significance of the training for seafarers can be borne from the fact that the declaration at the fourth ASEAN-US leaders’ meeting held at Cambodia last month in November mentioned: “We welcome the proposal of the United States to establish an Expanded ASEAN Seafarers Training Program. We took note of the US initiative on Southeast Asia Maritime Partnership (SAMP) that aims to enhance maritime cooperation in the region.”
Considering the fact that person of Indian origin constitutes over 70,000 maritime officers, even if 40,000 of these would be upgrading their skill-sets with at least two courses the estimated market size in the Indian training market at Rs 3,000-5,000 per day with five-day module would be around Rs. 120-200 crores, Capt. Pandey remarked.
There are currently around 30 such institutions providing training for skill upgrades approved by the Directorate General of Shipping, he concluded.
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